Spanish police arrest 4 in fake Picasso sale

MADRID — The Interior Ministry says police have arrested four people for trying to sell a forged Pablo Picasso oil painting for up to $1.5 million.

The canvas, a counterfeit version of a 1964 work called “The bust of Jeune Garcon” was accompanied by false authenticity documents bearing the signatures of Paloma, one of the Spanish painter’s daughters, and a renowned French art expert.

Investigators sought professional advice from museum experts and determined the real painting, which is slightly different to the offered fake, carries official certification by Maya Widmaier, the Malaga-born painter’s oldest surviving offspring.

The ministry said in a statement Saturday officers arrested three art brokers involved in the offer for sale and the current owner, a well-known Madrid antiquarian.